danielle nottingham has this report. >> yes or no. >> reporter: senator john mccain grilled chuck hagel, president obama's defense secretary nominee about his opposition to the troop surge in iraq. >> and your refusal to answer whether you were right or wrong about it is going to have an impact on my judgment as to whether to vote for your confirmation or not. >> reporter: some republicans have said they won't support hagel. he tried to address their concerns. >> i'm on the record many times in speeches and on the floor of the senate and in the book i wrote in 2008 saying iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. >> reporter: hagel served as a senator from nebraska for 12 years. during that time he made controversial remarks about israel that are still under scrutiny. >> give me an example where we've been intimidated by the israeli jewish loib to do something dumb regarding israel or somewhere else? >> i can't give you any example. >> thank you. do you agree you shouldn't have said something like is that? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: if confirmed he'll be the first vietnam vet to lead the pe